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Magnum Pistol
The Magnum is the most powerful pistol in Left 4 Dead 2. It delivers one-hit kills to Common Infected on all game modes and all difficulties; however it has only an eight-round magazine and cannot be dual-wielded. The Magnum is typically found where an extra Pistol would otherwise be waiting although it spawns less commonly. Unlike the common Pistol, the Magnum's accuracy and speed of fire is the same irrespective of whether is fired standing or incapacitated. Crouching increases the Magnum's accuracy. Official Description An alternative to a melee weapon or pistol, the Magnum holds eight massive half-inch rounds guaranteed to leave a hole the size of a dinner plate. When incapacitated, this powerful handgun will put down any swarming common infected with a single shot. http://www.l4d.com/survivors/nick/ Tactics * When using the Magnum, aim for the body to take advantage of its one-hit killing abilities. * Crouch to increase your accuracy at long ranges. * The Magnum can be used effectively both at close and long range against Common Infected. * Players used to using the common Pistol may take some time to adjust to this weapon since it is more akin to an extremely powerful mini-carbine than a pistol. * The Magnum is not as useful against most Special Infected (excluding the Boomer and Spitter who are comparatively weak), especially on higher difficulties. The weapon's small magazine, high recoil and mediocre rate of fire make it an unsuitable weapon against targets that can absorb entire magazines before falling. It is especially bad against the Charger which will absorb an entire magazine before dying. * A Magnum is the best side arm to have when incapacitated. It can easily tear through Common Infected whilst retaining its normal accuracy and rate of fire. * The Magnum is also good in combination with weapons which have disadvantages such as limited ammo, accuracy, long reload times, or short ranges (e.g. the Grenade Launcher, M60 and shotguns). * The Magnum is one of the two weapons that can kill Common Infected with a single shot in Realism mode, no matter where it hits (the other being the M60). * The Magnum is capable of one-hit kills on Smokers, Jockeys and Hunters: provided they are headshot. This is easiest for Hunters since their natural position is a head-first prowl. Against Smokers the outcome hinges on whether a player got into the aim before it attacked. If this is so, the Smoker is likely to go down. But if a player has already been grabbed by its tongue, the Magnum will probably not suffice as all this pistol's accuracy is lost during the vital split second available to a player to get some shots off before being fully snared. Jockeys are definitely hardest to deal with at short and medium ranges on account of their small size and remarkable speed. * If using the Magnum over the primary weapon (or lack of one), care should be taken that the magazine is always full. Having a full magazine is necessary to kill most Special Infected. For Chargers, Witches and Tanks, it is obviously advised to switch to a primary weapon. The Magnum will also reload faster if there is still ammo left in the magazine, so reloads should be done as often as possible. * It is possible to kill a Witch with a Magnum without startling her. A headshot will momentarily stun a Witch and further damage can be quickly administered without her being able to retaliate. Hitting a stunned Witch with a melee attack (secondary fire) will stun her again thus allowing follow-up attacks. This process can be repeated until she is dead during which time there is no risk to the player. Care is needed to shoot no more than three Magnum rounds before meleeing the Witch because otherwise she will recover her senses and attack. * In a pinch, the Magnum can be a decent weapon to use against a Tank as the damage per magazine quickly adds up. However the user should keep a healthy distance or switch to a main weapon if he gets too close. Players tempted to take a Magnum to a Tank fight must keep in mind that the damage inflicted by the Magnum will draw his undivided attention upon them. Pros and Cons Pros * Extremely powerful for a side arm. * Usually kills Common Infected in one shot, even in Expert and Realism mode at any range, making it one of the few guns able to do so. * 80 damage per bullet and infinite ammo. * Rounds can pierce through multiple Infected, making it very useful against the Horde. * Very accurate when still and crouching. * Provides superior ground cover when incapacitated. * Has a relatively fast reload. * Will kill a Fallen Survivor in one or two shots. Cons * Low rate of fire. This means it can take longer to kill Special Infected, especially when the magazine is only part full. * Has a high amount of recoil that reduces accuracy when fired quickly, hampering its performance against distant Special Infected. * Holds only eight rounds at a time. * Poor accuracy on the move. * Deals more friendly fire damage. * Cannot be dual-wielded. * Killing a Charger with full health requires an entire magazine. Locations The Magnum is usually located in a number of places where it replaces the P220 Pistol spawn. A few of the many locations where a Magnum would spawn are: *Dead Center **The Hotel: From the start, head down the stairs. In the room in the right, either on the map table or in the bedroom on the right on the nightstand. One can also be found in a room in the burning corridor to the right where you would normally go left to go to the elevator. **The Streets: In Whitaker's gunstore. **The Mall: Sometimes the Magnum can be found on the 2nd floor, when you cross under the half-closed security gate or on a desk in the Security room after the Emergency Door Gauntlet Crescendo event. *Dark Carnival **The Highway: In the Whispering Oaks Motel (the building in between the Midnight Riders billboard and the pool). Both the white pickup truck with roll bars and lights and the orange car (which may be alarmed) facing the door. **The Fairgrounds: In the starting safe room. **The Coaster: Right after the maintenance room. **The Barns: On one of the tables under the sheltered area with benches near the Strength Test game. **The Concert: May spawn at the final weapons cache either on the stage or infront of the light switches in the finale. *Swamp Fever: **The Swamp: Sometimes found at the beginning, but usually found on a dock next to a destroyed wooden building. About 35% into the chapter before the plane Crescendo Event. **The Shantytown:Sometimes found in an elevated shack, next to pills spawns or ammo caches, or on a table outside the shack. Located just before the room with first aid and before the crescendo event. *Hard Rain **The Milltown: On the table in the first building (Burger Tank), in the white house with the broken walls to the right of the ambulance, or on a table at the garage sale. **The Sugar Mill: Very rarely at the beginning safe room. **Town Escape: Inside the beginning safe room. If you found a Magnum in the Burger Tank in the first chapter, the Magnum will still be there as well. *The Parish **The Waterfront: From the building with the jukebox, take the side alley all the way to the end. It will be found on the floor at the end of the street. **The Cemetery: On the bottom floor of the first building you come to. Also, about halfway through the level, you will come across a caravan in the middle of a street that usually contains a melee weapon, a Tier 2 weapon, and almost definitely a Magnum on all difficulties, on a table to the left once you enter. *The Passing **The Riverbank: Immediately at the start, on Jimmy Gibbs Jr.'s car. Otherwise, it will be on the second floor of the apartments just before The Park and after the alley with alarmed cars, in the living room, on a small table (also a possible spot for Laser Sights to spawn). If not, it can be found at the ending safe room. **The Underground: The starting safe room and the "suitcase full of pistols & money" on the second floor of the bar after the construction site. Behind the Scenes The Magnum was originally supposed to be called the "Desert Cobra". A string calling the Magnum the Desert Cobra is in "left4dead2_english.txt" under a line about the Magnum. The name Desert Cobra only appears in the final on the sign next to the Magnum in Whitaker's Gun Shop, which calls the weapon the ".50 Desert Cobra". Notes * The Magnum is modeled after the Magnum Research Desert Eagle in .50 Action Express. ** It also bears a striking resenblance to Counter-Strike: Source's Nighthawk .50 C pistol, also called a Desert Eagle. The difference is that the Left 4 Dead 2 version has a flashlight attached to it. * In Whitaker's gun shop, the label for the Magnum says only 2000 have been made. * The Magnum can be used effectively on computers which experience frequent lag, as the low rate of fire and slow moving recoil reduces lag. * Even though the Magnum is modelled in the .50 AE caliber, the eight-round magazine is only used in the .44 magnum variant. This is likely for game balance reasons, similar to the fifty and sixty-round magazines on assault rifles. One could also assume that the game counts the one extra bullet in the barrel. * Similar to the P220 Pistols, the Magnum has no walking animation. * According to the text on the Magnum's side, the Magnum is produced by "1337 Weapon Industries (yOgi) PWN" and is made in Shyville. ** 1337 and pwn are leetspeak terms. They are alternate spellings for leet (derived from the word elite) and own (referring to domination or victory over another person or entity), respectively. * Both the left and right side of the Magnum are identical down to the grease stains, while the P220 Pistol has slightly different left and right sides. * While incapacitated, the Magnum's accuracy and rate of fire is the same as if you are not incapacitated and standing still. Before the December 9th, 2009 patch, holding crouch while incapacitated would result in uncanny accuracy. After the patch, crouching while incapacitated no longer increases accuracy. * On Nick's Survivor page on L4D.com, the bottom picture has him holding the basic P220 Pistol. However, one of the picture's captions erroneously says that it is a Magnum.http://www.l4d.com/survivors/nick/ * The Magnum's flashlight is mounted via an after market under-barrel rail and a rifle scope-ring mount. * Ellis will hold the Magnum (or Pistol) with one hand. If Coach's health falls beneath 40, he will also hold and fire the Magnum with one hand. * There is no hole at the front of the gun for the bullets to come out of, due to a mistake during the making of the texture. * This is the only sidearm that creates gore on a Common Infected. * Dark Carnival is the only campaign where the Magnum can spawn in every chapter. * Strangely, the HUD icon for the Magnum appears more like the P220 Pistols than the Magnum, while the P220's HUD icon appears more similar to the Left 4 Dead M1911 Pistol. * The right hand side of the Magnum, which cannot normally be seen, has not been skinned or textured, and so if one adjusts their FOV settings, they will see that the Magnum only has skin on the left side, which can be seen normally. This can only be seen in Firstperson view. * The Magnum Pistol was rated 4th in the Left 4 Dead 2 Top 10 FTW Weapons on Machinima. * In third-person mode, if you empty the magazine of the Magnum, there's no reloading animation. Instead, the Survivors just hold it like normal. Gallery File:deagle_2.png|Rochelle holding the Magnum. File:P220_vs_Magnum.jpg|The standard P220 Pistol (left) next to the Magnum. File:Deserteagletext.png|The text on the Magnum's side. References External Links * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vors0yz9EsQ - Magnum footage towards the end. * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9whqd8q-6Bw - More Magnum footage at around 2:00 * Magnum in Action (HD) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFYVXCCcUck Category:Weapons Category:Left 4 Dead 2